Train your Thoughts

Sometimes when we think we are so wrapped up in believing everything that our mind is telling us that it’s hard to think any other way. It can be seen as a negative habit because, often, we can believe more of our negative thoughts rather than our positive ones. It is easy to do.

I know that when I’m in a negative situation I have, naturally, thought a lot of negative things during and after. The problem here is that I have carried on thinking this way for a while and, even when I have felt better or I am seemingly over it my mind decides to replay it again. This had been part of my anxiety. It is meant to be a way of protecting yourself by thinking about the situation in order to feel better about it. This tends to make things worse. I have mentioned in other blog posts that this can cause a “snowball ” effect of thinking: The more you think about it and replay it in your mind, the bigger the negativity. Once that situation is over the best thing you can do is release yourself from it. Tell yourself a sentence such as “nope, I am not thinking about this anymore. It’s done “. I feel it is a good idea to train your mind to say this or something similar when you find yourself going back to a negative situation or thought.

As I have mentioned in another blog post: it is important to listen to any negative feelings only in order to understand them. Once understood you can train your mind to think more positively. This does not mean you have to always think positive, that would be impossible. To me it means to train your mind to see more clearly instead of dwelling in negativity and to have a more positive mindset. It means that you allow yourself to feel the feelings but without continuously listening to them.

It is difficult not to dwell on the negative because, unfortunately, it is an easy thing to do. This does not mean it makes things easier; it is just a habit that can be hard to break.

We do not have to believe everything that we think. If there is something that has been bothering you that you have been thinking about, write it down. Give yourself a window in the day or evening to think about it. Ask yourself: is it going to be that important in a year’s time? Do I need to solve it or let go? Don’t spend too long.

Sometimes, it is not just a negative situation that has your mind riddled with negativity but how you feel about yourself. Your mind has told you that you’re not good enough, that you are not worthy. You need to train your mind to think differently. For me it has taken a while. Sometimes I do feel a little down but I trained my mind to remind myself of my unconditional worth. We all feel down from time to time and that’s okay; that’s human nature. What we must try and do is remind ourselves that we have worth. If you feel your thoughts growing into a negative spiral then give yourself a sentence as previously mentioned. Think about the positives about yourself or what you may have learnt from a negative situation. Another good way to train your thoughts is to look to the past. How far have you come? Remember to train your mind each day in order to have more clarity rather than be cluttered with negativity.